CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED: THE RAVEN AND OTHER POEMS

REVIEW Poe is a masterful poet of the macabre and a book of his for elementary children might seem a bit overreaching. However, Wilson’s illustrations are composed of bug-eyed, creepy cartoons infused with a calming pastel wash, making his art queasy yet palatable to the young reader. It really is a nice dichotomy between horror and heart, and tones down the intense emotions and imagery of Poe for a younger crowd.

Interestingly, what we have presented in THE RAVEN AND OTHER POEMS is not comic litrature in its true sense. It is merely an illustrated picture book of poems. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I would offer it to my daughter and consider using it to talk about the difference between comics and picture books.

Still, there is no sequential art. What we have is a series of poems each presented with an often singular picture depicting an entire scene, rather than an art-infused work in which the illustrations demonstrate some element of time and are just as important as the text. Despite that fact, I enjoyed the book. I simply wish it was more … comicy.

BE AWARE Gaham Wilson, the illustrator, has created work for magazines including Playboy. The publishers chose to mention that tidbit twice in a book geared toward children – a fact that I find disheartening considering the target audience.

IN THE CLASSROOM Poems are important additions to our rich literary history, yet so many elementary teachers stick to female-oriented, flower and rainbow poetry in their classrooms. This undoubtedly alienates boys right off the bat. There is so much more to poetry than unicorns, baby birds, love and lilies. I would go as far as to claim that while I adore Shel Silverstein, there are many other poets who write for children that we should focus on. As teachers, we should explore other poets, free verse, concrete poems, poems about basketball, dragons, monsters, pizza, pimples, muscles, cars, and heroes. We should even consider death and pain. Poe knows those last two quite well. As a teacher who uses comics on a weekly basis, I find concrete poems an especially interesting form of poetry that is closely related to comics.

CHRIS’ RECOMMENDATION: Not RecommendedHad the publishers insisted on a comic adaptation of the book, rather than a picture book, I quite likely would have highly recommended the book. Up to this point, I have never been disappointed in a Classics Illustrated publication by Papercutz.

The fact that they mentioned the men's magazine twice means I cannot recommend the book as is. I would have no problem using it in the classroom with a document camera, but I would not just hand the book over to kids with that title reference in it. The parents in my district would call the principal.

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About TGC

The Graphic Classroom is a resource for teachers and librarians to help them stock high quality, educational-worthy, graphic novels and comics in their classroom or school library. I read and review every graphic novel or comic on this blog and give it a rating as to appropriateness for the classroom.

Submit Your Comics

Would you like your comic or graphic novel reviewed here at THE GRAPHIC CLASSROOM? You can do so in two ways, one of which is guaranteed and the other is not:

1. Send me a copy of the comic or graphic novel. I will read it and review it as soon as possible. You can email me privately and I will give you my mailing address. abikerbard@mac.com

2. You can simply tell me about your creation.

If you send me a copy, then I will review your submission. I will be honest and fair and do my best to get your book reviewed in a timely manner. I am a full time graduate student, so my time is limited. If I receive a lot of books, then I will put them on a first-come, first-reviewed list and do the best I can.

If you cannot or will not send me a media copy of your book, then you can just request that I review it. My money is short, as I am going to school and not working, so you are depending on my ability to afford your book. There is no guarantee that I will get to your work nor any guarantee that I will even review it. If I can afford it and have time to read it, then I will most certainly review it. It's all about the teachers, librarians and kids.

Reviews are never based on free media copies. I am writing my Master's Thesis on the subject of comics in the classroom, so this is important to me. I am committed to this and I take reviews very seriously. I do not rip into books in order to get readership. I will have a critical eye, but I am also excited about helping teachers find great books for the classroom.

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About The Editor

My name is Chris Wilson. My first name is Jack, which is why you see it on the posts, but I usually go by my middle name: Chris. Having worked as the Managing Editor for a weekly newspaper then as the Director of a non-profit for people with disabilities, I have gone back to school. I am now a full time graduate student in the college of education at Missouri State University. I am getting my Masters of Science in Education – Elementary Education.

I know that reading is a problem for many students today. I feel strongly that comics and graphic novels can be one way that we can combat this problem. Graphics novels should be in every public school library and classroom library. That is why I am choosing to write my thesis on using comics and graphic novels in the elementary classroom.

Email Meabikerbard@mac.com

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Disclaimer

Some comic literature is not appropriate for every classroom, or every community. Some are not appropriate for any classroom. You need to review any piece of comic literature for yourself and determine if it is appropriate for your grade, class, curriculum, goals, school and community.